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Dec 8, 1999
When can a church be accused of a crime? — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Howard Troxler Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) There is a story about lawyers that involves a flower pot falling off a high ledge. A passer-by sues, claiming he was injured.
The defense lawyer answers:
First, it wasn't our pot.
Second, if it was, it didn't fall.
Third, if it fell, it didn't hit you.
Fourth, if it hit you, you weren't hurt.
This "flower pot strategy" is being employed by both sides in the current criminal case against a corporation of the Church of Scientology. Both sides' arguments ...
Dec 7, 1999
Belief called irrelevant in death — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Thomas C. Tobin Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology in Clearwater cannot rely on religious grounds to escape prosecution in the death of one of its members, Pinellas-Pasco prosecutors argued in a strongly worded document filed Monday.
The document referred to the church's Clearwater entity as "a multifaceted non-profit corporation" that "engages in extensive revenue sharing activity" and generates "tremendous cash flow."
The wording aims to undercut an argument by church lawyers that Scientology staffers were giving "spiritual assistance" to parishioner Lisa McPherson when she died ...
May 12, 1999
Scientology files motions to drop charges — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Thomas C. Tobin Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology in Clearwater says it is immune from criminal prosecution in the death of Lisa McPherson and wants the felony charges against it dismissed. In lengthy motions filed this week, Scientology's lawyers argue that the charges filed against the church last November "are both unnecessary and impermissible." Church staffers gave "spiritual assistance" to McPherson, a fellow Scientologist, in the days before she died, thus their actions were protected under the First Amendment and the state's new Religious Freedom ...
Dec 1, 1998
Scientology pleads not guilty in 1995 death — New York TimesMore: link
Nov 14, 1998
Florida charges Scientology in church member's death // 2-year investigation leads to felony filing — New York TimesMore: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Douglas Frantz Source:
New York Times ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 13 — Florida prosecutors filed criminal charges today against the Church of Scientology in connection with the death of a church member while she was under the care of Scientologists three years ago. The church's Flag Service Organization, its chief operating arm in Clearwater, Fla., was charged with abuse or neglect of a disabled adult and with the unauthorized practice of medicine in the death of the church member, Lisa McPherson, 36. The felony charges were filed in ...
Feb 1, 1998
Scientology in Clearwater: digging in / Scientology in Clearwater — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Thomas C. Tobin Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) She is one of an estimated 3,300 Scientologists who have migrated to Clearwater in the 1990s, the most dramatic period of growth for the church during its 22 years in Clearwater. In addition, the church has said it is "deadly serious" about its plans for the year 2000, which include tripling the size of its Clearwater staff to more than 3,500; launching a local Scientology "university" that would accommodate more than 10,000 students a week; and having "Clearwater known as the ...
Jan 7, 1998
Public Eye: 17 days (transcript) — CBS NewsMore: Google video
Oct 31, 1997
In her final years, Scientologist spent $175,000 — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: lisamcpherson.org , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Thomas C. Tobin Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Lisa McPherson turned to the Church of Scientology in her 20s as she tried to shed the emotional baggage of a rocky youth. By age 36, with a high school education, she was earning a handsome salary as a sales representative in Clearwater. Today, as the church tries to rebut assertions that it caused her sudden death, it also credits Scientology for her successes in life. But McPherson's turnaround came at a financial price. From 1991 until she died in December ...
May 2, 1995
Affidavit of Paul Maser More: groups.google.com , lisamcpherson.org
Type: Affidavit
Author(s):
Paul Maser UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION Case No. 94-292-CN-T-24A CITY OF CLEARWATER and SIDNEY R. KLEIN, Chief of Police, Clearwater Police Department, Plaintiffs, vs. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY FLAG SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., Defendant. —– AFFIDAVIT OF PAUL MASER STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF PINELLAS I, Paul Maser, being duly sworn, deposes and says of my own personal knowledge and belief that: 1 . He is employed by the Clearwater Police Department and has been, so employed for 20 ...
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